Bambi
by flylikeadcriss
Summary: The story of eight year old Kurt watching Bambi for the first and only time in his life.


**I don't own Glee or Bambi.**

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><p>Kurt stared out the car window as his dad pulled out of the school parking lot. The seat he was in used to be his mom's seat. When the three of them went places together, his dad would drive and Kurt would sit right in the middle, squished between his parents. Now there was nobody beside him. Just a car door and empty space.<p>

The school day had just finished—Kurt's first day back at school since the accident. He'd secretly hoped (and hated himself for hoping) that maybe the other kids would leave him alone today, give him a break just this once. But they hadn't. Nothing had been different except for the amount of whispering about him behind his back.

The car pulled into their driveway, and Kurt opened his door and hopped down out of the car. His dad followed him inside silently but paused after closing the front door.

"I'm going to go do some packing," his dad said. Kurt knew what that meant. It meant that his dad was going to keep working on sorting through all of his mom's things and packing them into boxes because it was too hard to look at them. "Think you'll be okay watching some TV for a while?"

Kurt nodded. He loved TV. Sometimes, if he got ready for bed early enough, he'd be allowed to sit in his mom's lap and watch with her. She would watch shows about pretty things—dresses and jewelry and shoes that were bright and colorful and beautiful. Kurt loved those shows.

He didn't get to watch them with his dad, though. He'd have to find something else today.

"I'll be upstairs," his dad continued. He was talking in that voice that Kurt knew meant that he was about to cry, but he didn't want Kurt to know. Kurt hated that voice but he knew that sometimes people just had to cry so he nodded and went into the living room.

He was just able to reach the remote on top of the TV when he stood on his toes. He brought it back and plopped down on the couch. Again he was surrounded by empty space that shouldn't be there. He pulled two cushions from the end of the couch and placed one on either side of him. It helped the tiniest bit, so he turned his attention to the remote.

He pressed the button to turn the TV on. A football game was playing on it. Kurt made a face and switched the channel to find one of those scary movies that he wasn't allowed to see, so he changed the channel again.

The familiar picture of a castle was on the screen, and the music that he knew well was playing. Kurt smiled just slightly. He liked these movies. Sometimes he'd watch the prince save the princess and he'd wish that someday he'd meet a prince who would take him away to a castle really far away, where the kids were nice and didn't push you down for wearing bowties.

Then he'd feel bad, because he didn't really want to leave because this was where his mom and dad were and he didn't want to leave his mom and dad, because he couldn't live without them and that made it worth it to go to school and be pushed down and laughed at all the time.

Sitting on his couch and watching the TV made Kurt feel more normal—like his mom wasn't gone, she was just in the kitchen working on dinner or taking a nap in her bedroom. If he tried hard enough, he could smell roast beef coming from the kitchen and pretend that in a little while, she'd call his name and he'd have to turn the movie off to eat dinner. From where he was now, it was easy to tell himself that the last week hadn't really happened, and it had all been just a bad dream.

The movie was starting to play, so Kurt turned his attention back on the screen. It was one he'd never seen before, but it had cartoon animals, and music, and cheerfully chirping birds. All of the animals were happy and excited, because a prince had been born. Kurt smiled at this, because he loved talking animals and he loved princes and this one had both.

The prince had brown hair, Kurt noticed. Just like him. He also had a lot of animals happy and excited to see him. Kurt didn't have that.

Bambi. That was the prince's name.

And then Bambi made friends: Thumper the rabbit and Flower, who was a skunk. This made Kurt giggle just barely because flowers smelled good and skunks definitely did not. He'd learned that lesson when he'd found one in a bush that time his parents had taken him camping.

Then there was a thunderstorm, and it was loud and scary but it didn't upset Kurt. He knew that Bambi was safe because he was with his mom and his mom could protect him.

He watched as Bambi played and learned and met new friends. By this point, he was completely absorbed by the story—he wasn't thinking of anything sad anymore. All he was thinking about were brightly colored animals prancing around a meadow and laughing.

He watched as Bambi's mom told him about the Great Prince of the Forest, who was strong and brave, which Kurt understood. His dad was the strongest and bravest person he knew.

He was happy for Bambi—his mom loved him and protected him, there was a brave and strong Prince in the forest to protect him, and he had friends that played with him and liked him and actually wanted to hear the things he said.

He became confused a minute later, though, because everyone was happy and then suddenly they weren't. Scary music was playing and everyone was running and Kurt didn't know what was going on. And Bambi couldn't find his mom. That scared Kurt the most.

Then it was over. Bambi and his mom were safe. But Kurt had learned something: Man was not a good thing. Not to Bambi.

Winter came, and Kurt was happy again, because the scary part of the movie was over. Now it was all okay. Even when Bambi was hungry, Kurt knew that he had his mom and his friends and they were all looking out for him, so he would be okay.

Especially when the grass began growing again. Bambi wouldn't have to be hungry anymore, Kurt realized with relief.

But then the scary music from before was playing again, and Bambi and his mom were running, and Kurt closed his eyes because if something bad was going to happen then he didn't want to see it—

A loud gunshot sounded and his eyes flew open. Kurt knew the sound, he'd seen enough movies and TV shows that his dad let him watch when his mom wasn't around.

They were still running, still okay. Then a second shot sounded, and Bambi was running alone.

Bambi made it to safety and looked around for his mom, but he couldn't find her. She wasn't there. He was alone.

The sudden realization of what had happened hit Kurt like a ton of bricks. Bambi's mom was gone. She was gone and Bambi was alone. Just like Kurt.

He couldn't hear the movie anymore. Suddenly all he could hear were tires screeching and his mom screaming and glass shattering. Everything he'd forgotten in the past hour came rushing back. He gasped and squeezed his eyes shut and reached beside him before he realized that nobody was there. The only thing there was a pillow that he'd fooled himself into thinking could protect him when nothing could ever protect him like his mom did.

Kurt buried his face in his hands and rubbed at his eyes because he wanted the picture in his head—the one of the shattered windshield and his dad, who was pulling Kurt out of the car before he had a chance to look for his mom, looking more scared than Kurt had ever seen him—to go away. But it wouldn't, so Kurt just cried out exactly like he had when it had happened and he couldn't stop shaking and tears were pouring into the hands he was clutching over his eyes.

He kept crying, louder and louder and realizing that even though he wasn't watching anymore, Bambi was still just as lost as Kurt and this thought made Kurt cry even harder. He rocked back and forth on the couch and didn't stop until he felt a pair of strong hands on his shoulders.

His dad was there, Kurt realized. He himself be picked up and clutched at his dad's shoulders.

"It's okay," his dad said anxiously. He let go of Kurt with one hand to search for the remote and turn off the TV, then sat them down on the couch. "Kurt, you have to calm down. Try to calm down," he continued soothingly, but Kurt could hear the little bit of panic in his voice too.

Kurt just whimpered into his dad's chest, soaking his shirt. He let himself be rocked back and forth and breathed in his dad's familiar smell. He slowly calmed down until he was just holding onto his dad with his eyes closed, no longer crying but feeling completely exhausted.

His dad pulled him off slightly to see his face.

"You okay, Bud?" he asked uncertainly. Kurt gave a tiny nod and his dad sighed heavily. "Why were you watching that, Kurt?"

"Disney," Kurt mumbled. "And talking animals. I didn't know it would be bad."

Kurt's dad shook his head and gently placed him back down on the couch.

"Do you… want to watch some football together?" he asked, looking unsure.

"No," Kurt said quietly. His dad sighed again and sat down right next to Kurt. He picked up the TV guide from the coffee table and flipped through it for a minute.

"Do you want to watch that show with all the makeover things?" he asked reluctantly.

Kurt cracked a tiny smile and nodded, moving closer to his dad and curling up against him. His dad turned the TV back on, flipping though the channels until he found the show Kurt liked so much. Then he put an arm around Kurt and held his body close to his own.

And then Kurt remembered the Prince—the wise, brave, and strong Prince. Bambi wasn't alone, he realized. Not completely. And neither was Kurt.


End file.
